Chancel Insurance

[Sam Vimes]

This was a new one for us.

My daughter has bought a new house in a small village in the south. Apparently she had to or at least was advised to take out Chancel Insurance.

We didn't know what this was so did some digging.

If you live within the parish boundaries of a church built prior to 1536 - which she does - then the law allows the church to get you to pay for any repairs that are needed. Changes in 2013 made this less likely to happen but some folks have been stung for bills of tens of thousands of pounds.

It's probably fairly rare judging by the fact that the premium is only a few tens of pounds.

So check where you live and watch out for the collection box being passed around.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I have heard of this before. It should have been identified by the conveyancing solicitors as a possible risk.

 

[otherclive]

We had to take out Chancel insurance when we lived in a village in the Dartmoor National Park.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I have heard of this before. It should have been identified by the conveyancing solicitors as a possible risk.

They did, which is how we became aware of it.

 

[Dustydog]

I saw this many years ago in Sussex. The purchase of a one off premium insurance policy was required.

 

[Mel]

I hadn’t heard of this. Shame that our church was only built in 1821 otherwise we would have tapped the locals for the much needed repairs 😀
Mel

 

[Dustydog]

I hadn’t heard of this. Shame that our church was only built in 1821 otherwise we would have tapped the locals for the much needed repairs 😀
Mel

Blame it on Henry VIII. It is unusual to see it today. One off indemnity policies are available for a small premium, less than £50 in most cases.The one off policy should last as long you own the property.
It relates to church building repairs needed in the altar and choir area of the church. Very old hat but some people have come unstuck years ago.

 

[otherclive]

On a similar vein we had an issue with our buyers searches when we sold our house in 2019. We had lived in the house since 1986, and had a shared drive with two other houses. The buyers searches showed that a small area of the common drive had not been transferred to the developer, and as such there could be problems of denied access. Who would deny access was never made cLear, presumably whoever sold the land for development. Our title deeds showed no such anomaly. So we spoke to our neighbours who had only been living there for two years, and their deeds showed no such anomaly either. Our solicitors spoke to the buyers solicitors trying to resolve the issue, as their searches were also showing parts of the pavement as not being adopted. But they were adamant that the contract could not proceed until free and unfettered access was confirmed. Ordinarily an indemnity policy would be agreed, but this wasn’t an option as I had been to the council planning department to look at the original plans. I then found out that this effectively prevented the taking out of an indemnity policy. So we had to go before a Commissioner of Oaths and swear that in our 33 years of ownership there had never been an issue with access across this “ piece” of drive. It was clearly an error caused by the Land Registry digitisation of their records.

Postie must have been aware as in all of those 33 years Postie had always avoided the drive and accessed the house across the lawn. 😂

 

[Jcloughie]

I had heard about chancel insurance at some time. But do not recollect being advised to have it, we have been in the house since 1982.

Our parish church is somewhat older than 1536. I am pleased to say it is still in good condition.



There used to be an orchard wall on the estate, we had to sign to keep it maintained. Our solicitor said to just sign as it would never happen as the wall had been demolished.

John

 

[Buckman]

Postie must have been aware as in all of those 33 years Postie had always avoided the drive and accessed the house across the lawn. 😂

When we first moved into our current property we had to have the front lawns redone as they were a total mess. Old lawn dug up and seedlings put down. Grass was just starting to sprout when postie decided to walk across the grass instead of using the pathway. A word in his ear and no postie has ever walked on the lawn again. Seems the word gets passed down.

The church in our parish is not that old so we have no issues however a few miles away the parish at Abberley has an old Norman church built long before the 1500's. The walls must be at least 2 - 3 foot thick and roof looks like it has solid timber beams . Doubt if it has ever had repairs done as too solid. LOL!

 

[Beachball]

I had heard about chancel insurance at some time. But do not recollect being advised to have it, we have been in the house since 1982.

Our parish church is somewhat older than 1536. I am pleased to say it is still in good condition.

View attachment 5677

There used to be an orchard wall on the estate, we had to sign to keep it maintained. Our solicitor said to just sign as it would never happen as the wall had been demolished.

John

Similar to my parish 11th century church it has a lovely setting surrounded by trees the doorway is Norman and restorations were extensive in the early 19th century and it looking in great condition .

 

[Jcloughie]

Similar to my parish 11th century church it has a lovely setting surrounded by trees the doorway is Norman and restorations were extensive in the early 19th century and it looking in great condition .

They just don't build them like the Normans did anymore. 😏

John

 

[RogerL]

They just don't build them like the Normans did anymore. 😏

John

Built by Anglo-Saxons for their Norman masters!

 

[Steve1962]

The Normans would turn in their graves if they witnessed building standards in modern homes today....

View: https://youtu.be/uqdRiBF9HLQ?si=rNNhxXYoOwkyQMz8

 

[Sam Vimes]

Probably same QA as the caravan industry or vice versa.

My daughter's new house is pretty good in terms of snagging or lack of. Just a crack in one if the WC pans which is hard to notice but Mrs Vimes can spot my biscuit crumbs from 50m.

The only interesting point is that she seems to be getting free gas at the moment. The smart meter seems to be completely dumb and is not registering any gas usage.

I talked to one of her neighbours and they reckon their gas supply is connected to their neighbours house. 8 months on from reporting it and no action.

 

[Dustydog]

All new-build properties, or those with a new gas installation, must be provided with a Building Compliance Certificate, issued by a Gas Safe installer. Please don’t tell me that document doesn’t exist 😉

 

[Sam Vimes]

We have all the correct documents and certificates.

 

[Buckman]

All new-build properties, or those with a new gas installation, must be provided with a Building Compliance Certificate, issued by a Gas Safe installer. Please don’t tell me that document doesn’t exist 😉

That is correct, but the gas and electric supply is initially registered with the developer. This is done on a "temporary" basis, but as often happens it then gets forgotten about and can sometimes take several years before someone twigs that a place is getting free electric or gas.

Many years ago we were getting high gas bills and on checking we noticed that the gas number was totally different to what was on the bill. We were being billed for someone else's property.

It got so bad that a full investigation had to be done. It was then discovered that just about every householder in the complex was being billed by the wrong supplier for gas. It took several months to unravel and many months for most people to get refunds. One pensioner had been billed over £20k for 3 months supply, but she was with a different supplier and the gas number did not match.

 

[Sam Vimes]

I suspect its something along those lines. We made sure she took a reading when she moved in so the meter must have been working. Now it shows nothing.

It's also occurred to me that it's conceivable for a smart meter to be registered to a different address.

Since there's two way communication on smart meters, it could have been ' turned off or reset' when she took ownership and it's not been setup again.

 

[Buckman]

I suspect its something along those lines. We made sure she took a reading when she moved in so the meter must have been working. Now it shows nothing.

It's also occurred to me that it's conceivable for a smart meter to be registered to a different address.

Since there's two way communication on smart meters, it could have been ' turned off or reset' when she took ownership and it's not been setup again.

I think what happens is that the developer pays a lump sum to the local distribution company i.e. SPOW for the installation of cabling up to the meter. The meter is supplied by the meter operator, but not registered. This is where it goes pear shape. After the meter it is the responsibility of the developer. The distribution company SPOW and the supplier SPOW are two different entities.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Our parish church is somewhat older than 1536. I am pleased to say it is still in good condition.

Do you think you could convince the original builders to start making caravans? seems they must have resolved the water ingress problems and managed to make them last well....

 

[otherclive]

Do you think you could convince the original builders to start making caravans? seems they must have resolved the water ingress problems and managed to make them last well....

The lead would play havoc with the payload, assuming the church still has its lead. 😂

 

[Jcloughie]

Do you think you could convince the original builders to start making caravans? seems they must have resolved the water ingress problems and managed to make them last well....

But the flat tower would be far more practical than a steeple.

Both my son and my daughter were married here, (seperatly).



John